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Premier League questions: Harry Kane, Georginio Wijnaldum and more
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There are plenty of big names and big games in the Premier League this weekend, but what are the burning questions ahead of Matchday Seven?
The Sky Sports cameras will be at Huddersfield for David Wagner’s side’s clash with Tottenham; at Goodison Park for Everton’s meeting with Burnley and St James’ park as Newcastle host Liverpool in a Super Sunday double header.
Elsewhere, Manchester United play at 3pm on Saturday against Crystal Palace before Chelsea host Manchester City at Stamford Bridge at 5.30pm.
Here are 10 big questions we expect to see answered this weekend…
Harry Kane’s brilliant form continued in the Champions League in midweek, scoring a perfect hat-trick in Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Apoel.
That’s nine goals in his last five games in all competitions and he’ll be looking to build on that streak when Spurs travel to Huddersfield, live on Sky Sports Premier League.
However, David Wagner’s side, who have kept four clean sheets from six Premier League matches, will have other ideas as they look to continue their impressive start in the top flight.
Bournemouth’s Premier League campaign so far has had little to savour, with just the one win and five defeats.
Their sole victory came in their last home game against Brighton courtesy of a well-executed, drilled finish from Defoe - his first goal since returning to the Cherries in the summer.
Next up for Bournemouth is a Leicester side which is also struggling, with just one point from 12 and Defoe’s movement can no doubt cause the Leicester backline, which sometimes lacks mobility, a few problems.
The veteran is seventh in the Premier League’s all-time scoring list with 159 goals. If anyone can provide the firepower needed to propel Eddie Howe’s men away from relegation trouble, then Defoe is an obvious candidate.
Manchester United have made an impressive start to the season, matching rivals City stride for stride at the top of the Premier League table.
Jose Mourinho’s men welcome struggling Crystal Palace to Old Trafford on Saturday and they have the opportunity to pile the pressure on title rivals Chelsea and City, who meet later in the day.
Palace come into the match with six straight defeats in the league this season and United have the opportunity to move three points clear at the top with victory, before putting their feet up to see how Chelsea and City respond.
Mark Hughes was left frustrated by the number of individual errors at the back in his Stoke side’s 4-0 defeat to Chelsea last weekend, ensuring they haven’t won since August 17, but the Welshman has as many concerns at the other end.
A lack of goals from the Potters means they will need to keep it tight in order to get a result, as they have only scored more than once in a league game on a single occasion this season.
Peter Crouch or Saido Berahino could be brought in to replace Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting who has only scored in one game so far for Stoke, not to mention the fact he could only boast three goals in all of last season at Schalke, showing he’s not quite as prolific as Stoke fans hoped after his two goals against Manchester United.
Not many managers get a side relegated and then walk into a better job in the division they’ve just gone down from, but that’s exactly what Marco Silva did after executing such an impressive job at Hull in the second half of last season.
And the Portuguese has shown that his Midas touch is not just confined to the KCOM Stadium after making a superb start to his Watford career, which has seen the Hornets chalk up three wins and 11 points in his first six games as manager.
His new-look side go to the Hawthorns on Saturday to face West Brom, who are without a win in four after picking up victories in their opening two matches.
Having won all of their three away games so far this season, Silva will no doubt be confident his side can carry on their momentum this weekend.
Slaven Bilic’s reign at West Ham began with a memorable 2-0 win at the Emirates against Arsenal and the team continued that momentum for the whole campaign going on to finish seventh, scoring a record number of goals and achieving their highest points total.
Since then, it’s been a gradual downward spiral for the Croatian and this season has seen West Ham pick up just four points from six games.
Saturday’s opponents Swansea are also struggling for form and sit just a point ahead of the Hammers so Bilic, who is currently 7/4 favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked, will be under pressure to deliver three points.
With rumours surfacing that approaches have been made for other managers, Saturday’s result could have a massive bearing on Bilic’s future.
Man City thrashed Crystal Palace 5-0 on last weekend, having beaten Watford 6-0 and Liverpool 5-0 in their previous league matches.
No other side has scored five or more goals in three of their first six matches and Pep Guardiola’s side are already halfway to matching Chelsea’s all-time Premier League record from the 2009/10 season where they scored five or more goals in six games.
Will Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling and company continue their goal scoring glut on Saturday? They face the stiffest test of their title credentials so far when they travel to Stamford Bridge to face the champions Chelsea.
Antonio Conte’s side are in good form of their own after beating Stoke 4-0 at the bet365 Stadium last Saturday thanks to Alvaro Morata’s hat-trick.
Arsenal were ripped apart by Liverpool just before the last international break with Jurgen Klopp’s side smashing four past them at Anfield.
The Gunners’ three-man defence came in for plenty criticism that day but they’ve responded with three straight clean sheets in the league, including a resolute 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.
The last of which came in a 2-0 win against West Brom on Monday Night Football as Nacho Monreal put in a man-of-the-match display alongside Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi, and Arsene Wenger will be hoping his side can continue that form at the Emirates Stadium against Brighton.
Burnley picked up 33 points from a possible 57 at Turf Moor last season - form that helped them secure their stay in the Premier League.
Their away form was a real concern for Sean Dyche and with trips to Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool all in the opening weeks of the season, they faced what looked on paper a very tricky start.
But a win at Stamford Bridge and draws at Wembley and Anfield has seen Burnley, who are currently ninth in the table, make an unbeaten start to the season on the road and they head to Goodison Park full of confidence.
Georginio Wijnaldum has certainly enjoyed home comforts since he arrived in the Premier League from PSV Eindhoven in July 2015.
In his first season in England with Newcastle he scored 11 goals in 38 games in the league, with all of his strikes coming at St. James’ Park.
His good home record has continued since making the switch to Merseyside, notching 11 goals in 41 games for Liverpool, with all goals coming at Anfield.
The Dutchman returns to his old stomping ground when Liverpool travel Newcastle on Nissan Super Sunday, and Wijnaldum has the chance to break his away duck at the only other ground in which he has scored at in the Premier League.
If there was any weekend for Wijnaldum to finally score away from home in England, it would be this one at St. James’ Park, a ground he knows so well.
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